


Outsourced

by kamja



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Comedy, Fantasy, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-04
Updated: 2013-06-04
Packaged: 2017-12-13 23:32:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/830116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kamja/pseuds/kamja
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nino is a schoolboy who finds a monster under his bed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Outsourced

Something was knocking under Nino's bed every night. At first, he thought he was just dreaming, but he kept hearing it even before he went to sleep. Then, he thought it was the trees outside, but he heard it even when it wasn't windy. It sounded like wood, or maybe a hammer. Sometimes it went in a slow, regular beat, and other times it was very fast. As late fall turned into winter, it seemed to get louder. Nino didn't want to think of it, but there might be something under the bed. That was the only logical explanation. It was _so_ logical, he didn't need to look underneath to confirm it.

"Dad, I hear a knocking sound at night," Nino said at breakfast one day. It was starting to keep him awake.

"It's probably a monster," his sister said, reading her text messages while drinking tea. This was exactly what Nino didn't want to hear.

"Could be the pipes," their father answered thoughtfully. "When they're shut off, the pressure can create a water hammer. I'll call a plumber to check out the pipes running through your floor."

The plumber, however, couldn't come until next week. Nino laid in his bed that night, and sure enough, the knocking sound started again.

"Just a stupid water hammer," he thought, until there was a gap in the knocks and for the first time, he thought he heard a voice swear.

Nino bolted up in his bed, blinking. A voice said something. The knocking started up again.

"Just a stupid water hammer," he repeated. Despite himself, he grabbed the flashlight on his nightstand.

_knock knock knock_

He reflexively switched the flashlight on and off. "Water hammer."

_knock knock -- "Dammit."_

Nino's heart jumped right into his throat.

"Water hammer!" he yelled, leaning over the edge of his bed and shining the light into the darkness underneath.

"Hey, watch where you're pointing that thing!"

Nino was so startled that he tumbled right onto the floor. When he looked up, he saw a small boy hunched over a toy.

"Who are you?"

"Ohno. I live here."

"What?"

"Haven't you ever seen an under-bed monster?"

Nino contemplated this for a minute. Ohno certainly didn't look like a monster. "I guess not."

"Go to sleep, Kazu."

"But the knocking noise is keeping me awake."

Ohno looked at the wooden hammer in his hand. "Oh, sorry, I have some work to do."

"What kind of work?"

"Toys for Christmas. The deadline's coming up."

Nino wrinkled his nose. This didn't sound right. "I thought elves in the North Pole did that."

"Yeah, well, outsourcing."

Ohno went back to what he was doing. Nino watched him for a while.

"Could you keep it down, though?"

"Sure, sorry."

The next week, a plumber came by to check out the pipes. He was already there when Nino got home from school. He dashed up the stairs two at a time.

"First, we'll have to move the bed and take up the floorboards to access the pipe."

"The noise stopped!" Nino said hurriedly before his dad and the plumber could push the bed. They looked at him. "Yeah...it just went away on its own."

"Sometimes a change in temperature can cause it," the plumber said, shrugging.

"Oh, in that case, would you mind coming down to check on the water heater..."

As the adults went down to the basement, Nino slumped down on his bed and rubbed his face. There was a rustle, and when he looked up, there was a small wooden horse with a red ribbon tied around its neck on the floor in front of him.

"Thanks," he said, and the knocking started up again.


End file.
